The LEARN

[aff-man]

Frosty has a little wee GN250 that he has just purchased...
It could be sold at a real cheap price...

Grab it before the rest of the KBers destroy it completely...
It was Markauckland's bike.
Just had a nice paint job and engine work done on it..

No..... enough said...

Don't go try undo all my good work young lady. She is going to get a sprotbike of sorts.

[placidfemme]

You know that time, back in your first days of riding, when you needed someone to give you the learn? As in the learn-to-ride?

What are people's experiences with getting a friend/partner to help them to learn? I am just about to start learning - hopefully - and though the boyfriend had offered very generously to teach me, I'm a little nervous. I will either
a) drop it
b) drop it
c) drop it AND break some part of my anatomy
d) somehow get something stuck and end up hitting something (perhaps even said boyfriend)

Having said that, it's a lot cheaper to learn this way than to take a course. My question is - is doing the course a more stress-free way to learn to ride (and thus worth the moolah)?

Personally I'd advise getting real lessons... however, I had two friends start to teach me to ride... the first time I nearly crashed into a tree... the second time I got the bike going and had major issues trying to stop... (Which is becuase he taught me to change up gears and not down lol).

There are a lot of good riding instructors out there, but you should go with your own intuition... is your boyfriend a good rider? Has he been riding long? Does he have patience? Is he a good teacher and does he make you feel safe and confident when on the bike? If you answered yes to some or most of those questions and want to save some $$ then get lessons from him... if the answer is no... it wouldn't be a waste to spend $30-$50 on lessons professionally

Good luck

Edit: Ok I just clicked Aff-man is the "boyfriend' lol so take lessons from him (cause I gotta be nice so he'll finish helping me fix my bike)

[Quartida]

Edit: Ok I just clicked Aff-man is the "boyfriend' lol so take lessons from him (cause I gotta be nice so he'll finish helping me fix my bike)

Me too, in case I ever need him to fix MY bike!

[Gremlin]

... is your boyfriend a good rider? Has he been riding long? Does he have patience? Is he a good teacher and does he make you feel safe and confident when on the bike?

hehehehehehehehe I reckon I would have a good shot at nailing all your questions with one easy answer

Seriously tho, and not being harsh on ol' affie, it is easy to overlook the odd little details that an experience rider takes for granted, while you, the learner, do not know at all.

I would say use an instructor to get all the basics, then use aff-man after that. You will have a solid base of instruction, then he can fill in the questions that you will have, and offer the next phase of learning as such.

[aff-man]

hehehehehehehehe I reckon I would have a good shot at nailing all your questions with one easy answer

Seriously tho, and not being harsh on ol' affie, it is easy to overlook the odd little details that an experience rider takes for granted, while you, the learner, do not know at all.

I would say use an instructor to get all the basics, then use aff-man after that. You will have a solid base of instruction, then he can fill in the questions that you will have, and offer the next phase of learning as such.

Hey just cause you're slow Not to bad advice but then again I'm still learning so wouldn't class myself as "experienced" just yet. But I should be able to teach her the basics. This is the brake... If you freak out and use it unlike like a car you will fall over.... don't freak out.

[Gremlin]

well.... those are very basic basics

but would you feel happy that you have covered ALL the basics she would need?? Remember, overlooking something simple, could cost her...

I thought John Wright (for example) was good. Because I was an absolute learner, I definitely was happy to fork out the $200 odd for 3 hours of tuition and practice, instead of a condensed 1 hour course or something.

but if you feel you can cover all the basics, then go ahead. Just that you don't have all those pretty pictures John did about your angle of view at different speeds... which was also sobering...

[Quartida]

No, I take your point Gremlin. Though I don't know the 'pictures' you're talking about. But I think it's probably something that I will have to think about in more detail...

...at least, something I will have to think about in more detail when I finally get a bike.

[Gremlin]

Though I don't know the 'pictures' you're talking about.

The first half hour or so of his 3 hour course (well, this is for John Wright, who I obviously did it with - no ideas how the other operate) is theory based. One of the things he had were pictures of streets, and you angle of vision at various speeds.

The point being, as you go faster, your field of vision narrows. So at 30-40 (no idea on given speeds, these are for example), you see all side streets etc. At 70 or whatever, you are barely noticing the side streets coming up but can still see the whole road. At 100 all you see is the line in front of you. Its all your brain can cope with etc.

But yeah, just resources like that (ashamed to admit I can hardly remember what other stuff he had... something about road surfaces etc )

[SkOrM]

Don't go try undo all my good work young lady. She is going to get a sprotbike of sorts.

She could borrow my FXR for a day... its crashed on both sides so she wouldnt feel too bad if she drops it.

[NC]

Taught myself how to ride...

[Quartida]

At 100 all you see is the line in front of you. Its all your brain can cope with etc.

I assume 'etc.' accounts for "I'm riding at 180kph and I'm lucky if I see anything."

[aff-man]

I assume 'etc.' accounts for "I'm riding at 180kph and I'm lucky if I see anything."

As long as you got like 10-20m visablility she'll be right mate... Try riding in fog... aye gremlin

[apteryx_haasti]

Hiya - speaking as a total newbie. I took a learn to ride course here in Wgtn and did the basic skills the same day. It was good because they supplied the bike and it was in a carpark and all. On the other hand, it really didn't prepare me for actually going out on the road on my own! I took a course because I didn't have a bike or know anyone with a 250 and I also didn't know anything about bikes, having only been on one as a passenger. For me, the course was good, but the first test ride of a shop bike a couple of weeks later was scary!

If I'd known someone with a 250 who was willing to let me tootle around a carpark on it, that would have been great...

[Drew]

Person teaching dont have to be competant, just patient and understanding. Show the basics, and let ya go at it. You'll stall a hundred times, long as he wont get shity with that, he'll do just fine to teach.
I think the course teaches too much, and makes people over think what will eventually come naturally.
In the unlikely event that he does get pissed off, get him back by standing with your ass just touching the seat, give it death, let go of the clutch, and watch the bike dissapear away from under you, then turn around and storm off.
Hehehe, no way he'll toss his toys at ya again.

[kevie]

when I got first bike in 1969 the bike shop delivered the bike, showed me what all the 'bits' were and left .... I learned by falling off a couple times and several stalls LOL

But close friends/family teaching you is ok if they are patient and not critical. I taught my wife to drive, my daughter, couple friends and my niece.

They all seem competent and we didnt have any stress or dramas despite all our friends advising me not to teach someone close.

My stepfather tried to teach me to drive a car.... but lessons stopped abruptly when I almost took out a power pole after getting mixed up in the pedals LOL